Combined street-indicator and advertising device.



J. H. GOODIBR. COMBINED STREET INDICATOR AND ADVERTISING DEVICE.APPLICATION FILED nuns, 1907.

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.J. H. GOODIER. GOMBINED STREET INDICATOR AND ADVERTISING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 29, 1907. v

Patented Nov. 23

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J. H; GOODIER. COMBINED STREET INDICATOR AND ADVERTISING DEVICE.

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QY was mun Y J. H. (momma.- COMBINED STREET INDICATOR AND ADVERTISINGDEVICE.

7 APPLICATION FILED JULY 29, 1907, 940,963. Patented Nov.23, 1909.

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M imgss as /g JAMES H. GOODIER, QF U'IICA, NEW YORK.

COMBINED STREET-INDICATOR AND ADVERTISING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

Application filed. July 29, 1907. Serial No. 386,016.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES H. GooDIER, of Utica, in the county of Oneida,in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements inCombined Streetlndicators and Advertising Devices, of which thefollowing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is afull, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a combined street indicating and advertisingdevice for street cars adapted to be installed in some conspicuous placein or upon the car, usually in one end of such car where it is visibleto the passengers, and may be easily operated by the motorman or otherattendant to visually indicate successive streets as they are approachedby the car, and at the same time to simultaneously bring into the viewof the passengers placards or other advertising matter.

My object, therefore, is first; to install in the car a street indicatoradapted to be operated at intervals by the motorman to visually indicateto the pasengers the several streets along the line of travel as they.are successively approached; second, to provide an auxiliary, butsomewhat smaller street indicator Visible to the motorman, and broughtinto action by the operation of the main indicator so that the names ofthe streets appearing on the public indicator facing the interior of thecar, are also displayed by the auxiliary indicator to the motorman, andthird, to provide means brought into action by the operation of theindicator to successively display a series of placards or otheradvertising matter to the passengers.

Other objects and uses will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawingsFigure l is a front ele vation, partly broken away, of acombined street indicator and advertising device embodying the variousfeatures of my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged transverse verticalsectional views taken respectively on lines 22 and 33, Fig. 1, butlooking in opposite directions. Fig. i is a longitudinal verticalsectional view taken on line 4-4, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlargedsectional view of the auxiliary street indicator. Fig. 6 is an enlargedsectional view of a portion of the apron showing the manner of fasteningone of the name-plates thereto. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one ofthe placard guides of the advertising attachment.

As previously indicated, this device comprises essentially a main orstreet indicating mechanism; an auxiliary or conductors indicator, andan advertising mechanism, all of which mechanisms are brought intoaction by a single operating member under the control of the motorman orconductor, as will be hereinafter described.

The main or public street indicating mechanism comprises essentially apair of reels 1 and 2 which are mounted upon shafts 3 and 4respectively, and are connected for simultaneous action by suitablegears 5 and an idler 6-; each reel consisting of a pair of disks spacedsome distance apart and secured to its respective shaft, the peripheryof said disks being provided with suitable notches or recesses 7 forreceiving studs or pins 8 of a traveling apron -9- which carries aseries of plates 10 bearing the names of the streets in the line oftravel of the car said name plates being detachably secured at theirends to the apron 9 by a removable clasp 10, Fig. (5. These clasps arein the form of an ordinary glove fastener which consists of two sectionsadapted to frictionally engage with each other. As this construction'offastener is so well known, it is thought unnecessary to specificallydescribe it.

The gears 5- are secured to one end of the reels -1 and 2- and at theopposite end of said reels are secured ratchet wheels 11 and -12- whichare adapted to be engaged and operated by a double pawl 13 in a mannerhereinafter described for rotating the reels 1 and -2 in oppositedirections.

The pawl 13- is pivoted at 14:

' upon one end of a bell crank lever -l5,

which in turn, is fulcrumed at -16 upon the main supporting case -17 andis provided with an external arm 18 to which is connected an operatingcord 19 within easy reaching distance of the motorman or conductor, andwhereby the lever may be rocked upon its fulcrum -16- to operate thepawl -13- and thereby rotate the reel which may be in operativeconnection with said pawl.

As best seen in Fig. 3, the double pawl 13- is pivoted intermediate itsends, and each end is equipped with a ratchet-engaging face, one ofwhich is adapted to engage the ratchet wheel -11 when the pawl is rockedin one direction to move the apron in the direction indicated by arrowX, Fig. 3, while the other end of said pawl is adapted to engage theopposite or lower ratchet wheel l2- to move the apron in the oppositedirection, the object of which is to bring the name-plates 9 successively into registration with a sight opening 20 in what may be termed,the front side of the casing -17, or rather that side facing theinterior of the car, so that the name-plates may be visible by thepassengers through the sight-opening 20.

The pawl 13 may be shifted by any desired means into and out ofoperative connection with either of the ratchet wheels 11 or l2, and inthe present instance, I have shown said pawl as secured to the pivotalpin or shaft -14. which eX- tends laterally through a verticallyelongated slot 21 in one side of the case, and is provided with asuitable hand-piece 22, whereby said shaft may be rocked to throwopposite ends of the pawl alternately into operative connection withtheir respective ratchet wheels, said pawl being held in its adjustedposition by a spring detent -23 best shown in Fig. 3.

The teeth of the ratchet wheels ll and 12- and movement of the lever 15-and pawl 13 are arranged and adjusted so as to move the apron onename-plate space at a time, or at each operation of the lever 15 so asto bring said name-plates successively into registration with thesightopening 20, the movement of the lever 15 being limited byadjustable stops 25- which are mounted in a bracket 26 and whereby themovement of the pawl 13- and ratchet-wheel actuated thereby may beadjusted to a nicety to effect the desired step by stepanovement of theapron bearing the name-plates.

After each operation of the lever -15 by the motorman or conductorthrough the medium of the cord l9 said lever is returned to its normalposition by a spring 2'7 having one end secured to the arm -18 throughan opening 28 in the adjacent side of the case l7 and its other endattached to a pin 29 on the bracket 26 said bracket being supported upontie-rods -30 connecting the front and back of the case.

hen the pawl 13 is in the position shown in Fig. 3, to engage the teethof the upper ratchet wheel l1 the operation of the lever 18 by the cord19 against the action of the spring 27 operates to rotate the reel 1 tofeed the apron or nameplate-carrier 9-- in the direction indicated byarrow m, Fig. 3, the carrier being of sufficient length to receive anumber of name-plates corresponding to the number of the streets in theline of travel of the car from one end of the route to the other, andinasmuch as the apron is jointed at the pins 8 they fold or collect inthe bottom of a suitable chamber 32 and are guided thereinto by adeflector-plate 33 extending along a portion of the uncller front sideof the lower apron-feeding ree -2.

\Vhen the car reaches the end of the route, or its direction of travelis reversed, the pawl -13 is shifted by rotating the handpiece 22 out ofengagement with the ratchet wheel -l1 and into engagement with theratchet wheel 12, and as soon as the lever is released the spring 27returns said lever to its normal position, and causes the pawl -13 tooperate the ratchet wheel 12 and reel connected thereto to feed theapron 9 in the reverse direction, it being understood that motion istransmitted from the reel 12 to the reel 11 through the medium of thegears 5 and 6. As the apron is thus fed in a direction opposite to thatindicated by arrow 00, the name-plates are successively brought intoregistration with the sight opening 20, and the portion of the apron,together with the name-plates thereon, collect in a suitale receptacle--3#l,

as best seen in Fig. 2, said apron being held in contact with the upperside of the upper reel 1 and guided into the compartment 34=- by meansof a deflector-plate 35, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The apron and name-plates thereon travel between the flanges of thereels 1 and 2, while the pins -8 which are secured to and form a part ofthe apron project beyond the name-plates and intermesh with the recessesor notches -7 in the peripheries of the flanges of the reels so that theapron is driven positively and intermittently at each operation of thelever 1S.

The casing l7 and mechanism inclosed thereby is usually placed in anopening in the front end of the car with the sight opening -20 facingthe passengers so that the latter may be cognizant of the street whichthe car is approaching, but in some instances, it is advisable toacquaint the motorman with the names of the streets as they aresuccessively approached, and for this purpose I provide an auxiliarymotormans street indicator adapted to be installed in the under side ofthe front end of the roof of the car, or in any other suitable localitywhere it may be visible by the inotorman or conductor, consisting of acasing 37 and a rotary drum 38 bearing the names of the streetscorresponding to those upon the apron 9, said casing having a sightopening 39 through which the names of the streets are visible as thedrum 3S is rotated.

The action of the drum 38- is synchronized with the operation of theapron 9 so that the same street name wh1ch 1s presented at the opening20 of'the main indicator is also presented at the sight opening 39 ofthe auxiliary indicator, and in order to accomplish this synchrony ofmovement the shaft 3 is provided with a sprocket-wheel 40 which isconnected by a chain t1 to a sprocket-wheel 42 on the shaft of the drum-3 8-.

The advertising device previously 111611 tioned is always synchronizedwith the movement of the street indicating mechanism through the mediumof a toothed wheel -l3 and a lever t4z, said toothed wheel being securedto the shaft 3 while the lever 4te is fulcrnmed at t5 and has one endprovided with a roller 4t6-, which is engaged by the teeth of the wheel43-, the opposite or upper end of said lever being provided with a pawl-t7 which engages and rotates a ratchet wheel tS- on the shaft -49. Thisshaft -49 is journaled at its ends in suitable bearings in the sides ofthe case -17, as best seen in Fig. 4, and is provided near its ends orjust inside of the bearings with sprocket-wheels 50 which are connectedby chains -5l to additional sprocket-wheels -52 on a shaft 53 somedistance in front of, but in the same horizontal plane as the shaft -49.

A horizontal bed or table 55 is mounted upon the shaft 49 and a parallelrod 56 for supporting a series of advertising cards 57-, which are heldbetween and carried forwardly in one direction by a series of cardreceivers or feeding arms -58-, the latter being arranged in pairs andsecured at one endto the chains 5l, said table terminating a shortdistance from the shaft 53 to leave an intervening space or passage atthe front edge of the table through which the cards drop by gravity intothe lower side of the hood 17 forming a part of the inclosing case. Therear side of this hood is concentric with the shaft 49 and extends fromthe front side of the case 17 rearwardly, upwardly, and forwardly somedistance above the bed or table 55 so that the space between the underside of the bed and bottom of the hood 17 is substantially the same asthe distance between the top of the bed and underside of the top of thehood, and these spaces are substantially equal to the width of the cardswhich are carried by the arms 58. These arms, together with thesprocketchain 51, constitute a carrier movable in the directionindicated by arrow -yfor feeding the cards individually andconsecutively from the front side of the hood 17 rearwardly and upwardlyfrom below the bed -55 to a position above said bed along which thecarrier continues to feed said cards until they are successivelyregistered with the front end of the bed 55, or the space between saidbed and shaft 53,

whereupon as each card is registered with such space, it drops by itsown gravity therethrough and onto the bottom of the hood 17 when theoperation just described is repeated.

The front side of the casing 17 is provided with a sight opening 60 ofsubstantially the dimensions of the card 57 which is visibletherethrough to the passengers in the car.

The arms -5S of the advertising cardcarrier project radially beyond thefront side of the case in traveling from the underside around the frontend and top side of the bed 55- and in order that they may be I properlyprotected against contact with external objects, I provide a cap orcover 61, one at each end of the carrier, where these arms are located,as best seen in Fig. 1.

The rear end of the bed 55 is concentric with and surrounds the shaft-"t9. so as to facilitate the travel of the cards around the rear sideof the bed which forms a bearing for the lower edges of the cards whilebeing moved by the arms 58 forwardly toward the guide opening betweenthe front edge of the bed and shaft 58, it being understood that thelower edges of the cards on the underside of the bed which are beingcarried rearwardly ride upon the bottom and rear lower side of the hood17.

It Will be evident upon reference to Fig. 2 that the actuating mechanismfor the placard-carrier operates to move said.car rier always in thesame direction even when the direction of movement of the name-platecarrier is reversed, such movement of the placard carrier being effectedby the rounding teeth of the wheel -43 acting upon the roller -t6- ofthe lever 44l-, the lever being retracted by a spring 65-, as best seenin Fig. 2.

It will now be seen that the simple operation by the motorman orconductor of the lever l8, through the medium of the I cord 19, actuatesthe main street and auxiliary street indicating mechanism, and also theadvertising mechanism and that the reverse action of the main andauxiliary street indicating mechanisms, is effected by merely shiftingthe pawl 13-; otherwise, the operation is believed to be clearly setforth in such clear and exact terms as to enable anyone skilled in theart to construct and operate the device.

lVhat I claim is:

In a street indicator, a casing having a sight opening, reels journaledwithin the casing in planes above and beneath said sight opening, gearsfor transmitting positive rotation from one reel to the other, each reelbeing provided at its ends with a pair of disks having notches in theirperipheries spaced equidistant apart, an apron having laterallyprojecting studs or pins engaging in the notches in the reels as thelatter are rotated, name plates detachably secured to the apron betweenthe axes of adj acentstuds, said apron having disconnected ends,separate pockets in the casing for receiving the separate ends of theapron, guide plates for deflecting the ends of the apron from the reelsinto their respective pockets, separate ratchet wheels, each secured toone of said reels, a bell crank lever fulcrumed on the case and havingone arm extending in close proximity to the ratchet Wheels, operatingmeans attached to the other arm of the lever for moving the latter inone direction, a retracting spring for said lever, a double pawl pivotedto the lever arm nearest the ratchet Wheels and having its opposite endsmovable into and out of engagement with their respective ratchet wheels,manually operated means for shifting said pawl, yielding means forholding said pawl in its shifted position, and adjustable limiting stopsat opposite sides of the lever arm nearest the ratchet Wheels forlimiting the movement of said lever and pawl carried thereby.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 26 day of July 1907.

JAMES H. GOODIER.

W. L. GOODIER.

